Racing Roundup July 25 - July 27

Busch wins in record-setting fashion at ORP

Clermont, IN (Sports Network) - NASCAR's recent orders to lower the horsepower in Toyota engines in the Nationwide Series had no effect whatsoever on Kyle Busch Saturday as he put on a dominating performance at the O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis. Busch led 197 of 200 laps to win the Kroger 200. His No.18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota crossed the finish line 1.111 second ahead of Colin Braun.

The only thing Busch didn't accomplish at ORP was winning the pole.

"I feel those 15 horsepower cost me the pole." Busch said. "I really want to thank all of my competitors out there for the complaining they did, because they gave me some good traction control tonight."

It was the first race since NASCAR made the rule change to reduce the Toyota engine by 15 horsepower to even the competition in the series. Toyota has won 15 of 22 races in the series this year.

The victory was Busch's sixth of the season and 17th of his NASCAR Nationwide Series career.

It was a record-setting night for Busch in NASCAR.

Busch collected his 15th combined victory in NASCAR's top three series this year. He broke a tie with Kevin Harvick, who recorded a total of 14 wins in the Sprint Cup, Nationwide, and Craftsman Truck Series in 2006.

He gave JGR its record-setting 14th Nationwide victory this season. Richard Childress Racing posted 13 wins in the series last year.

And Busch also set the record for most laps led in a Nationwide event at ORP. Randy LaJoie previously held the track record when he led a total of 172 laps to win the Kroger 200 in 1997.

Busch ran out in front from the get-go. Colin Braun won the pole earlier in the day, but elected to start second. Busch led the field to the green and was unstoppable from there.

His Joe Gibbs Racing teammate, Joey Logano, experienced communication issues in the opening laps when he could not hear his spotter. Logano's team immediately corrected the problem.

Mike Bliss spun on Lap 21 to put the race under caution for the first time. Carl Edwards had to make a lengthy pit stop during the caution to repair a faulty oil cooler. Edwards went a lap down. He pitted for more work on the car during the next caution, an incident involving Danny Efland and Brett Rowe, several laps later. Edwards fell three laps behind in 37th-place.

But Edwards patiently made his way back onto the lead lap after his three-lap deficit. The seventh caution on Lap 170 allowed Edwards to receive the "lucky dog" pass. He was up to 23rd on the restart with 27 laps remaining. Edwards charged through the field and ended up with an 11th-place finish.

"We had an oil cooler leak or something," Edwards said. "Man, I'd give anything if this thing were another 100 laps."

Busch was stout on all of his restarts, especially after the fifth caution period for Travis Kittleson's accident. When the race resumed on Lap 149, Busch jumped out to an almost one-second lead over Braun in just one lap.

As night-time approached and the track temperature cooled off, Jason Leffler's Toyota and Mike Bliss' Chevrolet performed much better as they moved up in the field. Bliss started 17th, but had climbed up to sixth by Lap 100. After starting 11th, Leffler had jumped into the top-five at the mid-way point.

Debris from David Stremme's car put the caution flag out for the third time, setting up a round of pit stops. Busch was the quickest off of pit road, followed by Braun and Cale Gale.

Leffler, meanwhile, had to restart from the tail end of the lead lap after he was caught speeding on pit road. He never recovered and ended up finishing 16th. Bliss continued his pursuit towards the front.

Bliss finished third, with Scott Wimmer and Josh Wise rounding out the top- five.

Clint Bowyer now holds a 173-point lead over Brad Keselowski in the championship standings after finishing 18th. Keselowski came in 19th. Edwards moved to within 180 points.

The series heads to Canada next Saturday at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.

Dixon captures inaugural IndyCar race in Edmonton

Edmonton, Canada (Sports Network) - Scott Dixon won Saturday's inaugural Rexall Edmonton Indy at the Rexall Speedway located at City Centre Airport. The No.9 Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver crossed the finish line 5.9237 seconds ahead of Helio Castroneves.

The victory was Dixon's fifth of the season and 15th of his IndyCar career.

"I think at this point in the championship battle, it's a must-have for Team Target," said Dixon, who became the fourth driver in IndyCar Series history to reach five victories in a season. "Helio has been very strong in the last two races. He's been trying to chase us down, but we were able to make a small gain on him this weekend."

Justin Wilson, Paul Tracy and Oriol Servia completed the top-five.

Tony Kanaan was leading Dixon and A.J. Foyt IV when Graham Rahal crashed on lap 61. Kanaan and AJ Foyt IV, both on different pit strategies, gave up their respective spots on the track to take their final stops.

With Kanaan in the pits, Dixon took over the race lead. Castroneves, Dan Wheldon, Tracy and Wilson followed behind the leader when the race went back to green on lap 65.

Dixon and Castroneves pulled away from the field on the restart. And it became obvious that this race would be a battle between Dixon and Castroneves.

The No.9 TCGR driver held a 0.4779-second margin when the race became timed. There was just over nine minutes left.

Things got a bit interesting when Dixon hit lap traffic with five minutes remaining. Castroneves cut into Dixon's lead and had thoughts of passing. But Castroneves ruined any shot he had at winning the race when he locked up his brakes.

"When you're behind another driver, you're just short on tires," said Castroneves. "I was doing everything I could just to keep up. I was pushing and trying to put pressure on Dixon with every lap, but he never made a mistake. I'm just going to keep working hard because it isn't over for Team Penske yet."

Dixon took full advantage of Castroneves' mistake. Dixon built a comfortable gap and cruised past the finish line.

Pole winner Ryan Briscoe led the 27-car field around the 1.973-mile, 14-turn temporary street/airport course to the green flag for a scheduled 95 laps of racing.

The No.6 Team Penske driver led for three laps before teammate Castroneves took over first. Castroneves pulled away to over a three-second lead. Servia, Dixon and Wilson followed behind.

The first caution flag of the race flew on lap 19 for a Vitor Meira crash. Castroneves led the leaders down pit road for their first pit stops.

Marco Andretti, Tony Kanaan and Buddy Rice inherited the first three positions by not stopping. Castroneves and Briscoe followed behind in fourth and fifth, respectively.

The race went back to green flag conditions on lap 24. Castroneves quickly got past Rice for third. Hideki Mutoh brought out the second caution flag on lap 29. Kanaan and Rice made their first stops under the caution period. Andretti decided to stay out again.

Andretti led Castroneves, Briscoe, Dixon and Servia to the lap 33 restart. Castroneves got a great restart and ducked to the inside of Andretti and passed for the lead.

Castroneves quickly built over a three-second margin. Andretti lost another spot when Briscoe passed him on lap 38. Andretti came into the pits a few laps later for his stop.

The No.3 Team Penske driver was dominating the race as he pulled away to over a seven-second lead. His huge gap was erased on lap 49 due to a Townsend Bell crash. The leaders came down pit road for their second stops of the day.

Kanaan, Foyt IV, Rice and Ed Carpenter, all on a different pit strategies, inherited the top-four spots by not stopping. Castroneves completed the top- five.

The race went back to green on lap 55. Briscoe and Wheldon made contact and lost numerous spots. Briscoe came into the pits a few laps later to check for damage and get fuel. Meanwhile, Kanaan and Foyt IV traded the first position back-and-forth. On lap 60 Kanaan and Dixon got past Foyt IV, who was leading.

The caution flag came out on lap 61 and Dixon would take over the lead when Kanaan hit pit road.

With the victory, Dixon now leads Castroneves in the standings by 65 points. Wheldon trails in third by 115 points.

"At this point, I think a 65-point lead is pretty strong. We just have to keep on it for the next four races. We need to be consistent and continue to earn points. This win was definitely a turn for us in the championship," said Dixon.

The next race in the series is set for Saturday, August 9th at the Kentucky Speedway.

Johnson's tires hold up for Indy win

Indianapolis, IN (Sports Network) - Jimmie Johnson won Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard 400 in a race that was marred with tire problems from the start at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The No.48 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet driver and two-time defending NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion led a race-high 71 laps and crossed the finish line 0.332 seconds ahead of Carl Edwards.

It was Johnson's second victory of the season and the 35th of his Sprint Cup career.

"I just can't say enough of this race car all weekend long," Johnson said. "Carl put about as much pressure on me as he could. I knew from chasing Denny (Hamlin) the run before, even if he gets a little faster, he's not going to get by, so I just hit my marks."

Johnson won the race from the pole, becoming the second Cup driver to do so at Indianapolis. Kevin Harvick accomplished the feat in 2003.

Johnson was also fastest in final practice. Saturday's practice brought up concerns about tire wear at the aged track.

Goodyear tires stamped for next week's race at Pocono, PA were sent to Indy for reserve on Saturday night. Teams got an extra set of tires for the 400- mile event. And NASCAR planned a competition caution on Lap 10.

Johnson led the field to the green. His teammate, Jeff Gordon, moved from fifth to second in the first three laps. Gordon was in pursuit of Johnson, but a crash, involving Michael Waltrip and Paul Menard, on the fourth lap put the race under caution for the first time. Waltrip spun and hit the wall. Menard made contact with Waltrip while trying to get by him. He also hit the wall and sustained minor cosmetic damage during the incident.

Dale Earnhardt, Jr. was among a handful of drivers who pitted. Earnhardt, Jr. took on four new tires and had his crew look over the car for damage after a near incident with Edwards several laps beforehand. Earnhardt, Jr. and Edwards almost bumped while battling for position on the backstretch.

NASCAR changed its planned caution to Lap 14 to allow more tire wear since the first caution took place on the fourth lap.

Contact between Harvick and Kurt Busch set up the caution on Lap 14. Busch got loose coming out of the corner and hit Harvick, sending both cars into the wall.

Johnson exited pit road first, followed by Gordon and Edwards. Johnson and Gordon took on two tires only during their stops. Earnhardt, Jr., meanwhile, remained on the track since he pitted earlier. He led the way when the race resumed.

Earnhardt, Jr. led for eight laps but had to make an unscheduled pit stop for a flat left-front tire. Gordon grabbed the lead for the first time on Lap 25, while Earnhardt, Jr. fell a lap down in 38th after his stop.

Juan Pablo Montoya blew a tire on Lap 28, forcing the third caution. NASCAR ordered another planned caution to allow teams to check tire wear.

Kyle Busch gained three spots, exiting the pits first. Gordon and Johnson followed second and third with Busch inheriting the lead for the first time on Lap 32.

With continued tire issues, NASCAR planned cautions in intervals of 11 to 12 laps for the remainder of the event.

Busch's lead didn't hold up long as Johnson passed him five laps later with Gordon back in the second spot. Busch reclaimed second shortly after, while Gordon slipped back to seventh.

Jeff Burton made the biggest charge through the field in the first-quarter of the race as he started 32nd but moved up to sixth by Lap 40.

The third competition caution was planned for Lap 47, but one lap earlier, Matt Kenseth spun when he blew a right-rear tire, ripping the right quarterpanel off the car and dropping debris on the backstretch. Mark Martin and Edwards also experienced tire problems on Lap 46.

Kyle Busch was once again the quickest out of the pits and led the way for the restart on Lap 54. Johnson chased Busch and passed him for the top spot six laps later. A.J. Allmendinger then moved around Busch for the second spot. Busch began to fall in the field as he ran seventh when the next competition caution came on Lap 67.

Allmendinger won the battle off of pit road, while Elliott Sadler came out second, gaining four spots.

Allmendinger led the field for the restart on Lap 71, but Johnson quickly passed Greg Biffle, Sadler and then Allmendinger for the top spot. Gordon made his way back to the second spot.

NASCAR's fifth-planned competition caution occurred at the half-way point. Edwards had a two-tire change only and gained five positions as he exited the pits first. Martin Truex, Jr., who pitted earlier, ran out in front for the restart. But Edwards caught him in one lap, while Johnson and Gordon moved towards the front again.

Johnson passed Edwards for the top spot on Lap 91. Gordon then moved around Edwards for the second spot on the same lap.

Bobby Labonte came onto pit road when he had a right-front tire issue one lap before the next planned caution on Lap 98. Pit road was closed when he entered. NASCAR closed the pits before the caution because some drivers were stopping early to take advantage of the cautions. Labonte was slapped with pitting too early and speeding penalties. He was running eighth before pitting, but fell to 32nd after the infractions.

Sadler gained five spots as he was the first out of pit road this time, while Burton came out second as he moved up seven positions. Sadler was in the lead for the restart on Lap 106, but Burton dipped below him to take the top spot for the first time. However, the caution flag was quickly displayed when Brian Vickers' Toyota leaked oil on the track after his engine blew up.

Johnson battled Allmendinger for the second spot and then passed him with 46 laps remaining. One lap later, he had no problem getting around Burton for the lead. Gordon immediately moved past Burton for second as the Hendrick Motorsports duo were once again running one-and-two. Edwards moved into the third spot just before the next competition caution.

Johnson and Gordon took on four new tires during their stops, but Denny Hamlin was the fastest out of the pits as he gained eight spots. Hamlin, who took on two-tires only, claimed the lead for the first time.

With three-quarters of the race completed, NASCAR released an extra set of right-side tires for teams to use.

Hamlin held off Johnson up until the next caution. In fact, Johnson began to fall behind as Edwards passed him for the second spot just before the caution flag waved at Lap 138.

Hamlin took on right-side tires only and made it out of the pits first. Jeff Burton came out second after gaining four positions. Hamlin built a half- second lead over Burton after the restart, while Tony Stewart fell from fourth to 10th. Stewart stopped for two tires only.

Just before NASCAR's final planned caution, Sadler passed Burton for the second spot, and then Johnson moved around Burton for third.

When the leaders came in for their final round of stops, Johnson took on two tires only and came out first. Edwards moved up three positions as he came out second, while Hamlin exited third.

Johnson reclaimed the lead with eight laps to go. On the restart, he pulled away from Edwards and then held him off in the closing laps for his second win at Indianapolis. He won there in 2006, the same year he captured his first series title.

Hamlin, Sadler and Gordon completed the top-five.

"It was frustrating for everybody involved, everybody watching and everybody on pit road," Gordon said in regards to the tire problems at Indy. "As a driver, to know that you basically can only go 10 laps, it was a crazy race."

Kyle Busch finished 15th and left Indianapolis with a 253-point lead over Earnhardt, Jr., who finished 12th.

The next race is scheduled for Sunday, August 3rd, at Pocono, PA.

Kyle Busch is a rare non-factor in Brickyard
By Jim Peltz

The standings leader in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, who has seven wins this year, starts 19th in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and finishes 15th.

INDIANAPOLIS -- Talk about a change of pace: Kyle Busch was seldom a factor in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard on Sunday.

Busch, the hottest driver in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series this year with seven wins, started 19th in his Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota and finished 15th.

"It just wasn't meant to be," Busch said. "It was a top 15 and we'll go on."

Busch, like many drivers, said the tire problems that prompted NASCAR to call repeated caution periods at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway made race strategy difficult to plan.

Regardless, he said race winner Jimmie Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jeff Gordon, a four-time Brickyard 400 winner, "had the field covered today."

Busch still leads the Cup standings by a comfortable 253 points over Dale Earnhardt Jr., who finished 12th.

Allmendinger solid

Another Toyota driver, Californian A.J. Allmendinger, finished 10th for his best finish since moving to the Cup series from open-wheel racing last year.

Allmendinger, of Red Bull Racing, struggled just to qualify at many races in 2007 and early this season. But he has now had three top-15 finishes this year.

"We were no worse than 10th all day and when you can run that good -- and just starting to run with these guys every weekend -- is a lot of fun," he said.

Allmendinger, 26, praised crew chief Jimmy Elledge for "great calls all day" that kept him in the front group despite the race's tire problems.

"I was praying that the right rear [tire] was not going to blow out," he said. "There were a couple runs where I could really feel it vibrating."

Martin struggles

The normally unassuming Mark Martin had made a bold prediction that he would win Sunday's race and he started on the front row after qualifying second.

But after the veteran was among those who suffered tire problems early in the race, Martin struggled to keep his No. 8 Chevrolet near the front and finished 11th.

"Nobody is to blame, as everybody did the best they could," Martin said about the tire situation. "We probably didn't have anything for Jimmie Johnson, so I wasn't going to be able to back up my prediction, but we had a lot better car than where we finished."

Fast laps

Jeff Burton, who finished ninth, passed Bill Elliott as the all-time leader for laps completed at the Brickyard 400 with 2,365. . . . The race also set a record for the most lead changes, 26, and for the most laps run under caution, 52. . . . Defending winner Tony Stewart, who finished 23rd, extended his record of consecutive laps completed in the race to 1,601.

latimes.com

Tracking the Trucks : Power Stroke Diesel 200
Beth Lunkenheimer

In a Nutshell: Johnny Benson took the checkered flag 0.484 seconds ahead of Ron Hornaday, Jr. to win the Power Stroke Diesel 200 Friday night at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis. Benson held the lead in a two lap shootout with Hornaday, Jr. to score his second win in a row. Erik Darnell, Matt Crafton and Shelby Howard rounded out the Top 5.

Who Should Have Won: Ron Hornaday, Jr. Hornaday, Jr. qualified fourth and clearly had one of the strongest trucks on the track; he took the lead just five laps into the race. The driver of the No. 33 Chevrolet held off Johnny Benson through multiple restarts before relinquishing the lead to Benson when the driver of the No. 23 used the high line to make a pass. Hornaday, Jr. led 153 of 200 laps but was never able to retake the lead from Benson.

Questions You Should Be Asking After the Race:

1. Should Bobby East be disappointed by his run?

Bobby East ran third in the first practice and ninth in the final practice at O’Reilly Raceway Park, but when qualifying came around, he led the pack. Starting on the pole, the driver of the No. 09 Zaxby’s Ford had the advantage of controlling the start of the race and managed to hold the lead for five laps before Ron Hornaday, Jr. took the lead.

Following a restart on lap 120, Bobby East found himself in a three wide battle with Brendan Gaughan and Stacy Compton. Unfortunately, Gaughan got loose which in turn got Compton loose and sent East hard into the outside wall and up onto two tires. Bobby East managed to keep his No. 09 Chevrolet on the lead lap but ended up finishing 19th.

“I was just getting clarification from Brendan and Stacy. I guess Brendan ran Stacy up the track, which put him into me. I was already up the side of his door and he put me into the fence and ruined our night,” Bobby East said. “We were running in the top five. We had a top-five run going and that little incident pretty much ruined our night. And I really hate the result for the Zaxby’s Ford F-150 team. They put a lot of hard work into tonight and for it to end the way it did, I feel real bad for them.”

Bobby East has a reason to be upset. He was an innocent victim that was on the outside of the track. When Brendan Gaughan got loose, Stacy Compton probably could have controlled his truck and kept from hitting East had he not made some slight contact with the No. 30 of Todd Bodine. Bobby East could have easily scored a Top 5 finish had he not been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

2. Should Chad McCumbee be upset with Kyle Busch?

On lap 136, while Kyle Busch and Chad McCumbee were racing for 11th place, the two made contact, sending McCumbee hard into the outside wall. Following the accident, McCumbee pulled his No. 8 Malcomson Construction Chevrolet up in front of Kyle Busch to show his displeasure. When asked about the incident, McCumbee placed the blame solely on the driver of the No. 51 Toyota.

“I felt what happened,” McCumbee said. “That’s two weeks in a row the same truck number is the reason we’re out of this race; I’m not too happy about it. Really don’t have a whole lot good to say right now, so it’s usually not good to say anything.”

At a first glance, it looked like Chad McCumbee blew a right front tire, but a different angle showed some slight contact from Kyle Busch going into the corner. As he got loose, McCumbee locked up his tires and went straight into the outside wall.

While the driver of the No. 8 has a reason to be upset after contact with Kyle Busch took him out of the race, the incident didn’t look like anything more than tough racing. Both Busch and McCumbee wanted that 11th position, and the two ended up making some contact. Unfortunately, McCumbee got the worst of it and ended up with a DNF and a 31st place finish.

Truck Rookie Report

2008 Rookie of the Year Candidates:
Colin Braun (No. 6)
Andy Lally (No. 7)
Donny Lia (No. 71)
Justin Marks (No. 9)
Marc Mitchell (No. 15)
Phillip McGilton (No. 22—replaced by Scott Speed at Kansas)
Brian Scott (No. 16)

No. of Rookies in the Race: 5
No. of Rookies to Finish in the Top 10: 1; Donny Lia, finished 9th

Rookie Of The Race: Donny Lia, finished 9th

Worth Noting / Points Shuffle:

The Power Stroke Diesel 200 had 11 cautions, tying the record for most ever at O’Reilly Raceway Park.

Johnny Benson remains the points leader by 15 points over Ron Hornaday, Jr. in second who moved up one spot. Matt Crafton dropped one spot to third and sits just 31 points behind Benson. Rick Crawford and Mike Skinner remain in fourth and fifth respectively.

Todd Bodine remains in sixth but lost 90 points to leader Johnny Benson; he sits 204 back. Erik Darnell moved up one spot to seventh, and Terry Cook dropped one position to eighth. Jack Sprague remains in ninth, and David Starr moved up one spot to round out the Top 10, 322 points out of first.

Quotable:

“It stinks. Our car was good, it was just that much off.” Runner-up Ron Hornaday, Jr.

“It was a pretty good night for our Northern Tool + Equipment team. We just kind of missed it. The truck was good again. We qualified well, we ran up front all night and that’s what we’ve got to keep doing. We’ve got to keep knocking out these top fives and try to make up points on these guys to get back in the championship hunt.” Erik Darnell, finished 3rd

Up Next:

The Craftsman Truck Series takes a weekend off and heads to Nashville Superspeedway for the Toyota Tundra 200 on Saturday, August 9th. In 2007, Travis Kvapil beat Ron Hornaday, Jr. in this race by nearly 2.5 seconds to score his third win of the season. Coverage begins at 7:00 pm EST on SPEED; the race can also be heard on your local MRN affiliate starting at 7:30 pm EST.

frontstretch.com

Nationwide Series Breakdown: Kroger 200
Bryan Davis Keith

In a Nutshell: On paper, Saturday night’s race was not much of an event, with Kyle Busch leading a record 197 of the 200 laps run to win the Kroger 200 at O’Reilly Raceway Park. The win marked Busch’s sixth Nationwide Series victory of the season and the 14th of the year for Joe Gibbs Racing through 22 events. However, minus the dominance of Busch’s No. 18, the event at ORP produced fantastic racing throughout the field, and allowed the large crop of development drivers in the field to shine, with Colin Braun, Josh Wise and Cale Gale all posting career best finishes.

The newsworthy rule change that NASCAR made to Toyota’s engines did not keep Kyle Busch out of Victory Lane, but it definitely seemed to curb Toyota’s performance as a whole. Joey Logano and the No. 20 struggled more than any other race they’ve entered all season, and no Toyota not fielded by JGR finished inside the Top 15. The true effect of the rule change may not be seen until the Series returns to a longer oval at Michigan, but Saturday night marked progress for parity.

Current points leaders Clint Bowyer and Brad Keselowski struggled to 18th and 19th place finishes respectively, leaving Bowyer with a 173 point lead over Keselowski. Carl Edwards battled from three laps down early to finish 11th, now only seven markers out of second place.

Who Should Have Won: Kyle Busch He had the best handling car all night, and was flat-out dominant on restarts. The right car (unfortunately) won on Saturday night.

Worth Noting:

Colin Braun scored his first career Nationwide Series pole on an oval Saturday afternoon, and while he failed to lead the opening lap of the race, Braun ran in the Top 5 all evening and stalked Kyle Busch for much of the latter portion of the race. Braun’s runner-up finish marked his career best finish in NASCAR and was a dramatic improvement over Braun’s showing in the Truck Series race the night before (he finished 15th). With Braun slated to drive the No. 16 at Montreal on the road course, momentum is on this team’s side and the youngster may well be a major factor as the Series heads north next weekend.

Surprisingly, the JR Motorsports car of note this weekend was not Brad Keselowski. Landon Cassill, after running the Truck race Friday night, went exploring on the tight Indiana bullring and found that his car was fast running on the rims along the wall. Cassill ran higher on the track than any other car all race long, and it paid off with a solid seventh place run for his No. 5 Chevrolet, his third consecutive Top-10 with the team. The sooner JR Motorsports finds sponsorship for 2009 the better…they’ve got more than Brad Keselowski on their roster.

After Mike Bliss left Fitz Motorsports, the results just haven’t been the same for the No. 22 team, as new driver Josh Wise is about as green a development driver as they come. That didn’t show Saturday night. Wise drove like a veteran all night, qualifying a career best seventh, and following that up with a strong competitive fifth place run. Wise raced with the heavy hitters of the series all night long, and more importantly raced them clean. Wise has now posted back to back Top 20s for the first time in his career, and with Fitz Motorsports having the short track program that they do, the No. 22 team is counting down the days until Bristol…where Mike Bliss nearly won in March.

Better Luck Next Time:

Jason Keller has won two times at ORP in Nationwide Series competition, but that experience didn’t show on Sunday night. Keller and his CJM Racing team struggled mightily for the first time in a considerable while, struggling to stay on the lead lap all race long before finishing as the last car on the lead lap in 24th. The finish was the worst for Keller and the No. 11 since suffering engine failure at Phoenix…in April.

Whether or not the new engine rules imposed on Toyota were responsible, Saturday night marked the worst Nationwide Series race of James Buescher’s career, and among the worst performances of the season for Braun Racing’s No. 32 Toyota. After qualifying a disappointing 29th, Buescher found himself unable to find a handle or to move forward much at all over the course of the race, eventually finishing three laps down in 28th. The finish was Buescher’s career worst and his first ever outside the Top 20. Braun Racing in general did not deliver at ORP after winning the event in 2007, and it will be interesting to see if this team can shake it off, or if this is a sign of problems to come for the Toyota-backed operation.

Underdog Performer of the Race

Brian Keselowski delivered a fantastic performance in Dusty Whitney’s No. 92 Dodge on Saturday night, outrunning his better-known (and better-funded) brother Brad en route to scoring a 15th place finish, his best run of the Nationwide Series season. Brian, a Nationwide Series part-timer with several ARCA Re/Max Series wins to his credit, has consistently shown an ability to get the most out of his lower-tier No. 92 ride, having scored Top 15s at Memphis and Homestead in the same ride last season. Brian’s doing a solid job proving that brother Brad is not the extent of racing talent in the Keselowski family, waiting for his opportunity to come. Here’s hoping it’s soon.

JGR vs. the Field

JGR Toyotas led 197 of 200 laps in the Kroger 200.

JGR Toyotas have won 14 of 22 Nationwide Series races this season (13 with Cup drivers)

JGR Toyotas have led 49.0% (1,983 of 4,044) of the laps run in the Nationwide Series this season.

Quotables

“I was kind of disappointed because I feel like that 15 horsepower cost me the pole. I really got to thank my competitors for doing the complaining they did, because we were able to have good traction control all night long. I feel like that was important, to get off the corners a little bit better than everybody.” – Kyle Busch after his win in the Kroger 200

“There’s about four levels of team when you go NASCAR Nationwide Series racing. There’s the guys with a lot of budget with like eight million dollars. There’s the guys with mid-level budget with about four. There’s the guys with very little budget and then there’s me with no budget [laughs]. I mean, I’m coming with a car that’s five years old and a motor that’s three years old built in our back shop and racing with these guys. I don’t really feel like we deserve to race with ‘em but we still got to do it and we got to do it competitively and hopefully didn’t make anybody mad.” – Brian Keselowski after an excellent 15th place finish with his underfunded volunteer team

Up Next: The NASCAR Nationwide Series goes abroad for the final time this season, heading north to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. Coverage of the NAPA Auto Parts 200 begins at 3 PM on ESPN2 and 330 on MRN.

frontstretch.com

Matt McLaughlin's Thinkin' Out Loud: Allstate 400 at the Brickyard Edition
Matt McLaughlin

The Key Moment: Jimmie Johnson’s pit crew got him off pit lane first during the last of a string of competition cautions and once the 48 car was in clean air there was no catching it.

In a Nutshell: A complete and total unmitigated debacle that was unacceptable and unwatchable but presented in High Definition to fans lucky enough to be home.

Dramatic Moment: Anytime the drivers had managed six entire laps without a caution we could only sit and wait to see who the next victim of a blown right rear tire might be.

Other than that the nod goes to Carl Edward’s quixotic charge trying to run down Johnson in the final seven laps.

What They’ll Be Talking About Around the Water Cooler This Week

When there’s a very public disaster of this magnitude blame has to be assigned. In my mind at least, NASCAR gets 60% of the blame. With the Cup cars competing at Indy for the first time in the new car there should have been an open test during which surely this issue would have been discovered while there was time to address and correct it. If this doesn’t prove to them that the new car is a bad idea nothing will. 30% of the blame goes to Goodyear. They should have generated enough information during their three driver test to see the potential for a huge problem and they should have moved Heaven and hell to see it didn’t happen. 10% of the blame goes to the drivers for being willing to run at three quarters throttle most of the day while waiting for a tire to blow rather than just parking on pit road and refusing to race under such unsafe conditions. That’s what most drivers did prior to the first Talladega race back in 1969 when a similar tire issue came up.

Naturally there will be second guessing on NASCAR’s call to basically run a high profile race in ten lap segments. So what should have been done? Given the circumstances they took the most conservative and safe approach and I’m all for driver safety. Some will say the race should have been postponed until Goodyear could conjure up a safe competitive tire. Even if there were a lot of empty seats, there were still a ton of fans at Indy and their needs had to be taken into account. Not everyone would have been able to come back and they’d burned a lot of high dollar gas to be there Sunday. From my position as armchair quarterback, here’s what I’d have done. I’d have taken the same conservative approach NASCAR did for the first three quarters of the race. As it became evident the problem wasn’t going to go away, I’d have told the crew chiefs coming up to forty laps to go I’d be throwing the last competition caution. After that, knowing what they did about their tire wear and their cars, they’d be on their own with input from their drivers whether to continue pitting every ten laps or maybe going to a Hail Mary pass for the win and leaving the car out there a few more laps.

In the end we all fail occasionally. It’s what we learn from failure that separates success from failure in the future. To me the lesson is obvious and I’ll type it out in all capital letters in case Brian France, Mike Helton and Robin Pemberton left behind their reading glasses as they fled Indy to avoid being lynched; DUMP THE NEW CAR!

ESPN began their stretch of Cup broadcasts with a new look and lineup that succeeded to a degree. On the positive side, the camera work was stunning, they weren’t afraid to ask the hard questions about the tire issue to Goodyear and NASCAR officials, there were no cartoon gimmicks like “Race Buddy” or “Digger” and they finally dumped that Surely Inept (or whatever her name was) woman from the booth. On the downside some of the cast seemed to fawn over drivers rather than interview them, there were several long audio and video malfunctions, they began that relentless “Race to the Chase” drumbeat like they meant to cave in fans’ skulls, and they rushed off the air with the story of what had gone wrong left untold. Oh, and after mentioning or showing the “Kissing of the Bricks” incessantly they cut away from the track without showing it either.

If I recall correctly (remember I still have Grateful Dead sticker in the rear window of the Pontiac), after their own debacle at Indy the Formula One folks offered a refund on their tickets to fans who wanted one. Ironically it was a tire issue that caused all but six drivers to pull off the track during the formation lap and park for the day. So is NASCAR going to offer fans at Indy a refund too?

Maybe instead of sending trucks in from Pocono with new tires, NASCAR should have had the teams send trucks overnight with last year’s cars from the shops?

Did NASCAR award the five point bonus for leading the most laps to Brett Bodine, driver of the pace car?

Despite all the hype about a quarter million fans on hand it appeared at least 25,000 of them failed to show up. As the farce unfolded, it also appeared that a lot of fans voted with their feet, leaving earlier than is the standard at most tracks. Were they trying to beat traffic or worried they were going to have to stop and get new Goodyears on their car every 25 miles on the ride home? The “Goodyear Get There” tagline seemed unintendedly ironic on Sunday.

Great Moments in Team Ownership Part One (Presumably of dozens): Newly minted Cup team owner to be Tony Stewart was on hand at ORP to watch his National Midget teams compete. When a questionable call was made against his driver, Tracy Hines, Stewart went over a wall to question a race official about the call. Stewart then lost his temper and batted the officials headphones off his head. He says now he expects to be fined for his actions. The trick here is to figure that out before taking action. I don’t care what sport we’re talking about, even if it’s high school girls field hockey, you don’t lay hands on the officials.

Has anyone ever figured out why fans in Indianapolis pay good money to sit on the front stretch staring across at other fans looking back at them rather than the backstretch?

Well it didn’t look like the downsized restrictors on the Toyota engines hurt Kyle Busch much Saturday night during the Nationwide race did it? But looks might be deceiving. ORP is one of those tracks where too much power can actually be a detriment to a driver causing him to buzz the tires off the corners. Let’s give it a few weeks to see how this change plays out. Meanwhile I have a suggestion on how to reign in Kyle Busch. Make each driver race the following weekend with the additional ballast of all the beverage cans tossed at them aboard the car. They can crush them of course. You have to leave room for the driver.

Jeez, even the rumor of Oprah Winfrey coming to Kannapolis, NC, caused the city fathers to quickly remove the memorial banners to Dale Earnhardt along the “Dale Trail” as if stock car racing is some hideous Southern secret that can’t be admitted worthy of a Faulkner Southern Gothic novel? Did they make homemakers take the white sheets down off their clothes lines as well lest they be misinterpreted as evening wear outfits rather than bedding?

I hear Ford lost over 8 billion dollars in the last financial quarter. Did they check down behind the cushions on the couch? That’s where I always find the money I lost.

Is any one else getting the idea any well intended “moment of silence” at a race track isn’t such a great idea? That fact was once again driven home by one extremely rude foul mouthed fellow during the pre-race ceremonies.

The Hindenburg Award For Foul Fortune

A lot of folks had a lot of problems at Indy but nobody had any worse luck that that bird that had the close encounter of the wrong kind with the 31 car on a restart. I guess the early bird gets the worm and the slow bird gets the bumper?

Matt Kenseth’s tire failure was the most dramatic of the day, removing a large portion of the right rear body work on the 17 car when it let go. And yet Kenseth (like Carl Edwards) still had the class to apologize to the fans who had endured the race after the event.

Kevin Harvick was just riding when Kurt Busch’s worn right rear tire sent the 2 car out of control and into Harvick’s Chevy. Gunky engine buildup sucks but sheetmetal torn asunder is worse.

No NASCAR driver puts more emphasis on winning at Indy than Tony Stewart but his already ill-handling mount saved its worst for the final few segments of what some folks were alleging was a race.

Michael Waltrip didn’t even wait until his tires wore out in the first segment to wad up another car. At the rate he’s going, look for Waltrip to show up at the wheel of Cozy-Coupe with NAPA lettering taped to it at a race soon.

The “Seven Come Fore Eleven” Award For Fine Fortune

It wasn’t much of a race but it still paid well to win. Call Jimmie Johnson the 2008 Brickyard 400’s First Survivor.

Carl Edwards cut over into Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s car early in the race and the mayhem could easily have ended both their days.

A failing charging system had Jeff Burton’s even finishing the race very much in doubt early in the going but he hung on to finish ninth.

Shortly after leading the race, Dale Earnhardt Jr. cut down a tire and lost a lap pitting under the green flag. He soldiered on to a twelfth place finish.

Mark Martin was fortunate enough to have his right rear tire give way just as a competition caution slowed the field. Sometimes it’s all about timing.

Kasey Kahne suffered a cracked header early in the race and lost a lap. With cautions flying every ten laps he was able to get a free pass, get back on the lead lap and drive onto a seventh place finish.

Denny Hamlin was leading the race when he caught a beer can to the front grille, apparently tossed by some drunken fan to protest the farce he was seeing. I’d really like to see this beverage can tossing trend stopped. First off, I have never cottoned to the wasting of a perfectly good beer. Secondly, one of these days one of those cans is going to seriously injure a fan seated in the lower rows of the grandstands when it misses its mark.

Worth Noting

* The Top 10 survivors at Indy competed in three Chevys, two Fords, two Dodges and two Toyotas.

* The top finishing ROTY candidate at Indy was Patrick Carpentier in eighteenth.

* Jimmie Johnson has finished first and second in the last two races. Prior to that his last Top 5 finish was his win at Phoenix in the eighth race of the season.

* Carl Edwards has finished second in two of the last three race. Indy marks his fourth runner-up result of the 2008 season.

* Denny Hamlin (third) managed his first Top 5 finish since Pocono in June. He has finished third four times this year.

* Elliott Sadler’s fourth place finish was the best of 2008 Cup campaign.

* Jeff Gordon (fifth)came away with his first Top 10 finish in four races.

* Jamie McMurray’s sixth place finish was his best of the 2008 Cup season and his best result in this series since he won at Daytona last July.

* Jeff Burton (ninth) scored his first Top 10 finish since Pocono.

* For the second straight week, A.J. Allmendinger (10th) scored the best finish of his Cup career.

* Dale Earnhardt Jr. (twelfth) has top 12 finishes in fifteen of twenty Cup races this year. This concludes our test of the emergency mandatory Earnhardt Jr. note for this column. We now return you to your regular programming.

What’s the Points?

Kyle Busch still leads the points standings. Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jeff Burton remain second and third. Busch now leads Earnhardt by 253 points.

Jimmie Johnson’s “win” moves him up a spot to fourth while Carl Edwards drops a spot to fifth.

As the day’s big loser in the points, Kevin Harvick dropped four spots to 13th. Harvick is just two points out of the Chase. Matt Kenseth fell three spots to 11th and he’s just six points ahead of Harvick.

Denny Hamlin had the best day in the points moving up four spots to eighth. Kasey Kahne moved up two spots to ninth. Clint Bowyer reclaimed the 12th position in the points.

David Ragan took over the 14th spot in the standings from Brian Vickers but both drivers are watching the thundering herd ahead of them leaving them in the dust.

Overall Rating (On a scale of one to six beer cans with one being a stinker and a six pack an instant classic) I wouldn’t give Sunday’s race a warm cup of mule spit.

Next Up: It’s time to head back to the Pocono Triangle for Poco-Two. Wow, I hope Goodyear has some tires left for the race.

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